The [Shrinking Pill] was ultimately left in Sherry's laboratory.
Although the scans showed it was basically a jelly bean, Sherry admitted its composition was incredibly complex.
Luca's suggestion: "When you have free time, maybe try to research this thing. Who knows? Maybe you can figure out how to replicate the Shrinking Pill or even invent an Enlarging Pill."
Sherry's reply?
"Does it look like I have free time?!"
Anyway, these two items were Luca's only harvest recently.
Not completely useless, but close enough.
Luca could only comfort himself.
Dragon Ball world is OP. Wolffy's tech is insane. I'm just laying the groundwork. Once I get 5/5, I'll take off!
Back to the present.
Luca was enjoying breakfast in the villa's dining room.
For once, neither he nor Sherry had pulled an all-nighter in the lab. As they ate, they discussed Gina's recovery.
"Based on my projections, Ms. Gina should regain consciousness in three or four days."
"However, her condition was severe. The targeted drug actively breaks down the cocooning protein, but it doesn't prioritize specific nerves."
"So even after waking up, she likely won't be able to move immediately. Symptoms like sluggishness and temporary amnesia are expected."
"But with continued treatment, these will fade over time."
Luca nodded. Baymax gave him regular updates, so this wasn't a surprise. Baymax had noted Gina's returning sensory perception a couple of days ago. Sherry's three-to-four-day estimate made sense.
Curing Gina was one of Luca's obsessions. Success was within reach, which was good news.
He was actually more curious about how his mother would react when she woke up and saw the current state of Aurantius Industries.
Moving on, Luca asked another question.
"How's the jelly bean research going?"
Er, Luca had been asking this question periodically for the past few days.
Usually, it earned him an eye-roll from Sherry. But Luca seemed to enjoy it.
Whether he really wanted the Shrinking Pill replicated or just liked seeing the eye-roll was debatable.
However, to Luca's surprise, today Sherry hesitated instead of rolling her eyes.
Luca froze.
"Wait... no way? Did you actually figure out the formula for the Shrinking Pill???"
Seeing Luca's shock, Sherry rolled her eyes anyway.
"So you pester me every day to research that candy, but you didn't actually think I'd find anything?!"
After the retort, Sherry explained her hesitation.
"I did find something, but there's no theoretical basis for it yet. Um, I think this discovery might be applicable to the development of APTX-4869."
Luca perked up.
"Forget the theoretical basis. What did you find?"
Sherry chose her words carefully.
"After repeated scans and observations, I found that although the main ingredients of that pill are indeed saccharin, sweeteners, and vanilla extract..."
"The molecular arrangement of these ingredients is extremely peculiar. It's not a simple mixture like normal candy making. It's more like..."
Sherry faltered, struggling to describe it. Finally, she gave up and used an unscientific analogy.
"It's more like the arrangement of these ingredients forms some kind of magic circle."
"Huh??"
Luca hadn't expected that answer.
"Magic circle?? Are you telling me the Shrinking Pill isn't a scientific product, but a magic potion?"
Sherry blushed slightly, realizing how unscientific she sounded.
She tried to rationalize it.
"Magic circle is just a metaphor. Different chemical bond combinations can look like magic circles to the uninitiated."
"Perhaps it's just a pharmaceutical technique whose principles we don't fully understand yet."
Luca nodded, accepting the explanation.
He wasn't an expert in bio-pharma, but similar concepts existed in his field.
For example, E-Carbon Alloy relied on specific arrangements of carbon isotopes to enhance physical properties.
"So, how does this arrangement help with APTX-4869?"
Sherry: "Well, I've confirmed the effects of two specific arrangements. One stabilizes the drug's properties, and the other suppresses them."
"If I can achieve similar effects with other ingredients, I might be able to remove the toxicity from APTX-4869, retaining only the age-reversing properties."
"It requires extensive trial and error, but at least I have a promising research direction now."
Luca stared at her.
Suppressing drug properties just by arranging molecules in a specific shape? And you say it's not magic!
Gray Wolf (Wolffy) is actually an Alchemy Grandmaster.
Of course, Luca didn't interfere in fields he didn't understand.
He encouraged Sherry to continue her research at her own pace and not to rush.
After all, Luca was still a teenager. He had no urgent need for an eternal youth drug.
Even if Sherry succeeded, it would be like the Shrinking Pill—you can get smaller (younger), but not bigger (older). It wouldn't help Luca much right now.
Unless he forced fed APTX-4869 to Tony just to turn him into a kid for laughs?
Hmm... actually, that sounds hilarious.
Just as Luca was gleefully imagining a child-sized Tony Stark, the TV in the background, which they had been ignoring, suddenly flickered with static.
The screen distorted.
In the center of a series of colored bars, a logo appeared: Two crossed scimitars and ten rings.